September 20th (Afternoon)

Crazy FAST ride this afternoon! Taryn has her soccer on Monday nights at 6pm. We are supposed to be a her soccer 10 minutes early, and it’s a 15 minute drive. That means we need to leave the house at 5:35 at the latest. Normally my ride takes me anywhere from 45-50 minutes, and I don’t leave work ‘till 4:45 typically. So, as I left the office today I knew I was going to have to push hard to make it in time to change and help get the kids ready and loaded up in the truck!

The temperature was still a brisk 11° (and still no jacket), but I was able to warm up pretty fast. I did some sprinting up the Hugh Allan hill, and then the Summit Drive just past the Merritt highway intersection. Coming down into Peterson’s Creek was good and fast, with the two sand pockets still being pretty wet and therefore a bit easier to navigate. I made the crossing through the creek, but again I spun out on the root trying to get out up the first bank! Even so, I did make the short, steep climb up the second bank for only the second time to date (two times in a row now). So what gives? Suddenly I can’t make the first section but I can make the second? Jeepers, time to get these ducks in a row!!!

I attempted the long, steep climb again versus trying the bypass trail. I’m liking the challenge this way gives me, even if I can’t see myself making the whole way in maybe 4 or 5 years… It’s still fun to try and see how far I can make it every time.

I made it to the top of the first gulley trail about 5 minutes faster than normal, so I knew I was on my way to a fast time. By the time I got down to Frolek’s lower road, I was cruising pretty good. I made a rather poor distance up the final hill at the Rose Hill pipeline section, but then the trail going into Juniper was FAST. I basically sprinted the entire section, landing me at home in a record 41 minutes, and a best average speed of 20.6km/h! A typically good and fast ride is around 44 minutes and 19km/h, so this was awesome!

So, yeah, I made it in time and didn’t make Taryn late for soccer… Plus, my stuff from MEC was there, so I got to play with some new toys after we came back from her game…